Home birth advocate dies during her own home birth

In a sadly ironic moment, Caroline Lovell of Australia, an outspoken advocate for home birth in Australia, died a day after being rushed to the hospital during her own home birth.

According to the Herald Sun, Caroline, 36, was assisted by private midwives. Before she was taken to the hospital, Lovell held her newborn daughter, named Zahra, who survived. She has a 3-year-old sister named Lulu.

Home births are growing more popular in the U.S. and abroad so the death of a home birth advocate who went into cardiac arrest during childbirth is sure to bring renewed attention and debate over the safety of giving birth at home.

After nearly a century of declining popularity, the percentage of home births in the U.S. increased 29 percent from 2004 to 2009, although they still account for fewer than 1 percent of all births.

Will the death of such an outspoken advocate for home births scare women away from home births?

Susan Moray, spokeswoman for Midwives Alliance of North America does not believe so. “For healthy, low-risk women, we believe birth is a normal process and the body is well designed to do it. Home birth midwifery care has been proven to be a safe and nurturing alternative to physician-attended hospital births.”

Moray, a midwife in Portland, Ore., notes that women do occasionally die in labor — sometimes at home, sometimes in the hospital.

Maternal deaths in the hospital rarely make international headlines. She does not believe one tragedy will change attitudes toward home birth.

“I don’t think one death is going to swing the pendulum away from home-based labor and delivery. What’s swinging the pendulum to the 29 percent increase in home births is women talking about the satisfaction of their births and the good safety record,” says Moray.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which has 55,000 members, said in a statement last year that hospitals and birthing centers are the safest place to have a baby. “Although the absolute risk of planned home births is low, published medical evidence shows it does carry a two- to three-fold increase in the risk of newborn death compared with planned hospital births.”

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